Academic Requirements Overview

The Sturm College of Law awards the degree of Juris Doctor to those students who successfully fulfill the following requirements:

Completion of ninety [90] semester credit hours with passing grades. Only a grade of F constitutes a failing grade for purposes of this requirement. Students receive no credit hours toward graduation for courses in which they earn a grade of F.

Maintenance of the required cumulative grade point average: For students who enter the Sturm College of Law in the 2007 Fall, or any subsequent, semester: a cumulative GPA of 2.3 or higher

Successful completion of all required courses (as defined in the chart that follows this section). A student who receives a grade of F in a required course must retake the course and earn a passing grade. Both grades remain on the student’s transcript and affect the student’s cumulative GPA.

Completion of the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement

Completion of the Public Service requirement

Completion of the Professional Skills Requirement. [All students entering the College of Law in Fall 2013 or thereafter must successfully complete a curricular offering of two or more semester credit hours. A list of qualifying courses will be made available.]

Resolution of all financial obligations to the University of Denver

Completion of all credit hours within a specified time period following initial matriculation at law school. The American Bar Association requires law students to complete their legal educations within seven years. Full-time day-division students at the Sturm College of Law normally meet all JD requirements by the end of their third year. Part-time evening-division students at the Sturm College of Law normally complete all JD requirements by the end of their fourth year.

Good Standing

All students who enter the Sturm College of Law in the 2007 Fall, or any subsequent, semester must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least a 2.3 to remain in good standing.

Students may check their Academic Progress Report on MyWeb. Students have the responsibility to check MyWeb carefully and to contact the Registrar’s Office if students note any discrepancy between their understanding and their Academic Progress Report. Students have the sole responsibility to ensure that they have completed all graduation requirements.

Public Service Requirement

All law students must satisfy the Public Service Requirement in order to graduate. To satisfy the requirement, each student must perform a minimum of 50 hours of supervised, uncompensated, legal public service work. Students are strongly encouraged to complete this requirement before their last semester of law school.

After a student has completed a minimum of thirty (30) academic credit hours, the student may satisfy the Public Service Requirement by participation in one of the following:

A pre-approved Sturm College of Law course which has a practical public service component (current pre-approved courses are Street Law, the Graduate Tax Program’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, Trial Practice III: Mentor’s Practicum, the International Criminal Law Practicum, Wills Lab, and the Probate Practicum). You must receive a “C” in order for the class to count for the PSR.

The Public Service Requirement has the following goals:

Educate students about their professional responsibilities, particularly their obligation to perform public service work as practicing attorneys;

Help students develop practical lawyering skills by supervising them in real work situations and teaching them to integrate the theory and practice of law;

Raise awareness among students of meaningful career and public service opportunities.

Upper Level Legal Writing Requirement

All law students must satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement prior to graduation. The requirement provides students additional instruction and practice in research, organization and expression.

To satisfy the requirement, each student must:

Complete a written product of at least ten (10) pages on an appropriate legal subject determined by a professor and the student.

Secure the professor’s written comments as to the substance and style of the student’s written project

Prepare a second draft of the written project in response to the professor’s comments to the professor’s satisfaction.

Students may satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement in the following ways:

Designated Seminar Classes or Clinics
A student can enroll in and successfully complete a seminar that satisfies the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. The student also can enroll in and successfully complete a clinical course that satisfies the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Clinics and seminars do not necessarily satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Students must clarify with individual professors whether the seminar or clinic will satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement.

Directed Research Projects
The student may enroll in and successfully complete a 2-3 credit hour Directed Research Project with a full-time faculty member. If the student successfully completes a Directed Research project that fulfills the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement, the professor must certify to the Registrar that the student has completed the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement.

Certification by Professor
Any full-time or adjunct professor can offer a student the opportunity to complete the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement within the course taught by the professor or independently of the course taught by the professor. Upon successful completion of the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement, the professor must certify to the Registrar that the student has completed the requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement.

Professional Skills Requirement

All law students entering the College of Law in the Fall 2013 Term or thereafter must successfully complete a curricular offering of two or more semester credits hours that provides substantial instruction in professional skills generally regarded as necessary for effective and responsible participation in the legal profession beyond legal research, writing, and analysis.

To fulfill this requirement, a curricular offering must provide at least one credit (700 classroom minutes) of instruction in the performance of professional skills beyond legal research, writing, and analysis, and must engage each student in multiple (more than one) hands-on skills performances that are evaluated by the instructor.

The College of Law Registrar shall maintain a list of courses that satisfy the professional skills requirement on the College of Law webpage. The College of Law Modern Learning Committee and Curriculum Committee shall be responsible for approving courses that satisfy the professional skills requirement, and for periodically updating that list. Each course description for each class that satisfies the professional skills requirement shall indicate that it does so.

A student may not use the same curricular offering to satisfy both the upper level writing requirement and the professional skills requirement, unless the course has been designated as a special Carnegie Integrated Course offering by the Modern Learning Committee. Each Carnegie Integrated Course shall include a full credit hour of skills instruction in addition to assigned upper lever writing.